The E2EVC Experience, a Newbie review.

So this weekend I went to the E2EVC event in Barcelona. And since this was my first E2EVC I was labeled as a Newbie. So this Newbie would like to share with you what to expect at an E2EVC event and why you should definitely go!

What is the E2EVC?

E2EVC means Expert to Expert Virtualization Conference and the name is correct. It’s all about sharing knowledge between Experts. Experts or Vendors will do non-sales, non-marketing sessions. So really technical deep dive session, which I love. The event moves from venue every edition and is held all around the world. The creator of the E2EVC event is Alex Cooper (@E2EVC) and he will open the event. He will also bring you back to the airport after the event with a shuttle, which is really cool!

What to do at the E2EVC?

A lot! You can follow sessions which will be held in two separate rooms after the first day or you can follow master classes. But the most important thing to do is share knowledge, talk about customer stories and have fun. Sessions I followed at the E2EVC Barcelona were:

What’s new with Control-Up

Modern Workspace Strategy from Windows 95 to Microsoft 365

XenServer for VMware admins

nVidia zero to cuda Master Class

Microsoft Current state and future of RDS

Citrix Workspaces

and many more!

Is the E2EVC Fun?

Yes, yes and yes! It’s incredibly fun to be with all these experts who all are IT nerds. And next to all Consultanting Experts there are also some Vendor Experts, so how cool is it to talk about your favorite product with the creator of that same product? But it’s not all shop talk, in the evening after the sessions there are social mixers. Which were on the roof of the Barcelona hotel with great view of the city. During the mixer (and from 2 o’clock midday) there is free beer and a lot of experts stay together to get some food after the mixer and some more drinks. The E2EVC reminded me of a Rock Festival (like Graspop or Fortarock), everyone is happy to be there and willing to have a good time. And just like with a rock festival you can go see a band (E2EVC Session) or just hang back with some people and have a coffee or beer.

Tips from a newbie

Go to the E2EVC on Thursday ( I flew in friday morning and regret it) a lot of people arrive on thursday and are having fun already. And by coming in Thursday you will be nice and fit friday morning at 10 when the event starts.

Book a room in the hotel where the E2EVC is held. This way you can easily go back to your room in between sessions if needed. But much more important, you can get to know each other during breakfast!

Talk to everyone ! Everyone at the E2EVC is there to share knowledge and have a good time!

Add people to LinkedIN so you can contact them later on!

Have fun and try to learn as much as you can.

Follow a master class.By doing a master class you get to know people who are in simmilar projects as you. And of course you learn a lot.

Conclusion

Well, it wont be a surprise, I really liked the E2EVC and would recommand everyone who is serious about Virtualization to go. The next E2EVC is in June 2018 in Amsterdam. I will definitely be there espcially since I’m Dutch and Amsterdam is an hour drive away from home. But I don’t want to miss any E2EVC anymore so I will try to attend as many events as possible and maybe one day become a E2EVC Grandfather (An Expert who has visit the event more than 10 times and is helping newbies).

I hope this was informative. For questions or comments you can always give a reaction in the comment section or contact me:

It was also my first E2EVC and I had a great time and a lot of interesting discussions! Almost everything you wrote is true but not your remark “And by coming in Thursday you will be nice and fit friday morning at 10 when the event starts.” NOPE you won’t! 😉